Cortisone Shots For Treating Tennis Elbow: Friend Or Foe?

Are Cortisone shots a medical miracle or menace in the treatment of Tennis Elbow? Allen Willette of Tennis Elbow Classroom points out some of the research on this critical question in the video and shows how the long-term effects of Corticosteroid injections have been known for years.

Do These Steroid Shots Make Tennis Elbow Worse?

“DoCortisone Shots Actually Make Things Worse?” asks Gretchen Reynolds in the N.Y. Times Well Blog. For answers she cites a recent Lancet review of over 40 clinical trials involving people with tendon injuries, mostly Tennis Elbow:

One of the key findings in the Lancet review was that the Cortisone shots "reduced pain in the short term..." only to find that it was "...reversed at intermediate and long terms." This is echoed in a study by Andres and Murrell from 2008:

The Tendon-ITIS Inflammation Myth: Chasing A Ghost With A Needle

How much of the problem is that Doctors, Surgeons, P.T.s AND the public are still "besieged by myths" - like the falsehood that Tennis Elbow is a form of TendonITIS involving excessive inflammation? - (which supposedly must be battled with shots and pills.)

The research killed that myth decades ago - And the rationale for the Cortisone injection died with it. We're left chasing a ghost with a needle:

Proffered as THE quick fix cure for Tennis Elbow, research confirms the Cortisone injection is a highly effective therapy for treating elbow tendon pain (the symptom) in the short term - But what about the long term? - (The research clearly shows it's almost all bad news.)